A Neat Little Package

So how come the result just wasn't good?? I mean they were okay, but they weren't as delish as the ingredients promised. Too much of a good thing, you say? Really? I don't buy it, I'm sorry I just don't. People, we're talking CHOCOLATE here!

Maybe it was the shortening? I've never used shortening in my muffins before, I never have it at home, so I just substitute with (more) butter. Maybe I overworked the batter? Maybe... I can't say. They were a bit on the dry side, a bit crumbly. Maybe it was because I accidently started the oven out a little too cold, so I had to bake them for longer?

Anyhoo - there is one thing I was very pleased with about these muffin. The packaging. I can never seem to find paper cases that fit my muffin cups - they're either too small in diameter or too low for me to fill the cups all the way. So I decided to try and take matters into my own hands.

Allow me to present: the homemade paper case!

I can hardly take the credit for this invention myself - I've seen it both in How to Be a Domestic Goddess and one of the Donna Hay books, and had it like this once at a café. I like the idea - your muffins can go all tall! (and that means you're still only eating one muffin, but there's lots more to it - heh!)

I used a couple of pieces of baking parchment, crumbled it up a bit, to make it easier to fold and thereby fit the (buttered) muffin cup. I think it's important to butter the muffin cup as it makes it so much easier to get the muffin in it's liner out when it's cooled a bit.

Make sure to make as few folds in the parchment as possible - the more folds, the bigger the risk of your batter getting stuck in the folds, then having them spread everywhere when you "release" the muffin from the case. I've seen it happen, oh yes I have!

8 comments:

Wow, what's up domestic diva incarnate? Way to go!Isn't that a bummer about the muffins...crazy when the ingredients promise nothing but sweetness and you just don't get that out of the oven. Wow, the pictures still look amazing though, I think I'd still need to have a bite, just for kicks. They'd probably pass my taste test!

Heh. I wonder if there's an epidemic going through the foodblog community (like a throat infection) of 'why didn't this work as well I thought it would" at the moment! I heartily sympathise! AND empathise! I do like the paper cases though...very rustically artistic. Good for increasing the monetary value of a single muffin if you were selling them at a cake stall or something.

I saw that idea in a Donna Hay book, too and have been meaning to try it. Its good to know it actually works! Great looking muffin too :-) We dont have Daim here in the US but its a bit like toffee, isnt it?